Penfolds Rare 50 Year Old Tawny Series 3

1 Aug

Penfolds Rare 50 Year Old Tawny Series 3
A$3500, 19.7% alcohol, cork, Barossa Valley.

Each year Penfolds releases 330 bottles (only) of its rare 50-year-old tawny to the world. The 50-year date relates to an average, approximate age; the actual vintages used span (an incredible) 101 years. It’s made using Shiraz, Grenache, Mataro and Cabernet Sauvignon, Barossa-grown, though small amounts of other varieties are also included.

The price may well be in 'stupid' territory but the quality is quite ridiculously good. Yes to fabulous intensity and yes to a complex array of flavours but that everlasting linger of flavour to the finish is a blaze of glory if ever there was one. It’s spicy and intensely sweet, aged and fresh all at once. It’s mind-blowing. It tastes of fig and coffee and a wild array of more. 99 points – Campbell Mattinson.

PenfoldsTawnyBarossa Valley

Campbell Mattinson

This post was written by Campbell Mattinson. Mattinson is a former chief editor of the Halliday Wine Companion book, former editor of Halliday magazine, former editor of Australian Sommelier Magazine and founder of The Winefront business. He is the author of five books on wine – four of which were bestsellers (The Wine Hunter, the Big Red Wine Book 2008, the Big Red Wine Book 2009, and the Big Red Wine Book 2010).

Mattinson is also the founder of the Mattinson Photography business.

Campbell Mattinson has been an independent journalist, wine critic and photographer for forty years. He’s the only Australian to have won the Australian Wine Communicator of the Year Award more than once. He’s a past winner of a Louis Roederer International Wine Media Award; is the author of the award-winning book The Wine Hunter; and is the author of the best-selling novel We Were Not Men. He’s also a winner of a St Kilda Film Festival Award (as writer-director) and is a former winner of the national Best Australian Sports Writing Award. In 2026 three of his photographs were short-listed for the World Food Photography Awards.

Campbell Mattinson, who is 100% independent, has tasted between 5000 and 10,000 wines each and every year for the past 25 years. He tastes blind, in comparative brackets, as often as is practicable.

Campbell Mattinson is a journalist, a photographer, a filmmaker and a wine critic. In all of these mediums his prime motive is to tell people's stories.

https://www.campbellmattinson.com

Penfolds Rare 50 Year Old Tawny Series 3

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